Political Identity

The majority of my political identity was probably formed sometime during high school. Prior to those four years, I really did not care much about what was going on in the world of politics, but was aware that my mom was an Independent and my dad was a Democrat (they both, as far as I can remember, tended to vote for the Democratic candidate). When I hit high school, I began to realize that the overwhelming majority of people around me were very liberal, even more so than my own family. I don't want to write this in a way that makes it seem like I was influenced solely by my high school environment - I still based my political identity around my own personal beliefs. I think what really happened was that I became aware that some of the things I had been taugh at Catholic school (elementary and middle school) I did not agree with. As we touched on in class, it is difficult to separate politics from religion and I think that has had a strong effect on my beliefs.



My political beliefs are liberal - I am pro-choice, support gay marriage, am concerned with the environment and conserving our resources, fully supportive of civil rights (I don't think anyone should be discriminated against due to their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc.), and am against the death penalty. One of the main reasons why I could never be someone who discriminated against others is because I am a biracial American. Even if I wanted to, it would be impossible for me to associate myself strictly with one racial or ethnic group, so how can I think that it's right for others to act as though certain people are inferior simply because of their identity? I don't like to think that there are still people out there who have a problem with interracial marriage, but I know it's probably true. My political views reflect my personal experience as someone who can potentially experience discrimination just for being who I am, and that is not something I see as just in any situation. I have been interacting with people from all different racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds for my entire life, so I never though in terms of favorable vs. unfavorable identities. I guess I have my parents to thank for that: my mom has always made sure to lead me into new, unfamiliar experiences, meeting all kinds of people along the way.